I'm glad that the multitasking issue has finally been brought up as an
argument for really pushing down Mozilla's memory requirements. This is
a reality even in this age of 128MB systems. When Windows itself wants
half that to load, and then other apps think that using 20+ MB for
themselves is "okay" (we're not just talking Mozilla here), multitasking
becomes next to impossible.
One thing that doesn't seem to be brought up though as another reason
that Mozilla's memory requirements not only need to be reduced, but
SIGNIFICANTLY, is this: wasn't Mozilla aimed for platforms other than
PCs?
I remember when the Gecko release came out that fit on a floppy. This
sparked all sorts of interest along the lines of "Mozilla-everywhere".
Set-top boxes. PDAs. Cell phones. Video games. And anywhere else you
needed a web-browser.
Sure, it might be standard for PCs to come with 128MB of RAM, but a Palm
Vx still only has 8MB. Mozilla can't realize one its original goals...
that of being a browser for all sorts of platforms, not just PCs, many of
which will have MUCH less memory than standard PCs.... until it's memory
requirements not only get reduced, but WAY down.
Maybe I'm wrong here, and Mozilla has given up any hope of being used on
anything but PCs. That would be a shame, and would hurt its adaptation
rate considerably (as we watch PDAs and such become more and more
popular).
The truth is, Mozilla needs to get its memory usage to BELOW that of 4.x,
even though hardware has improved. I thought that was one of the
goals... do more, with less. Yes, I know that Mozilla has to do a LOT
more than 4.x did. But when we were told that Mozilla would be smaller,
I thought that it was referring to the size THEN, not an arbitrarily
adjusted size in the future if 4.x had be scaled for hardware-inflation.
Is this just not possible? Have we lost one of the original goals?
-----------------------
Scott I. Remick [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Network and Information (802)388-7545 ext. 236
Systems Manager FAX:(802)388-3697
Computer Alternatives, Inc. http://www.computeralt.com
